A capacitor is an integral part of any device that uses electricity, but sometimes it happens that failures occur with this most important element of the system. In this article we will talk about why the capacitors on the motherboard are swollen.
The capacitor looks like a battery, sometimes slightly flattened vertically. Inside is a small roll of aluminum foil in an electrolyte solution (anode and cathode). The aluminum foil is insulated from the electrolyte with a thin oxidized film dielectric.
The main purpose of capacitors is to convert alternating current from the outlet into direct current, necessary for its frequency circuit, as well as to smooth out fluctuations in the transmitted voltage.
Such fluctuations are also called pulsation in another way. They cause the condenser to heat up, and the stronger they are, the higher the temperature will rise.
Causes of blown capacitors
A swollen capacitor is one of the most common causes of electrical equipment failure, and in technical terms, failure of an electrical circuit. Swelling most often occurs precisely in power circuits, as well as in the power devices themselves.
There are plenty of reasons why capacitors swell - from low-quality materials and mechanical damage to the microcircuit, to wear and tear and power outages.
From the most obvious and frequent causes, a sequence of events can be distinguished: excessive heating (rather overheating) and subsequent evaporation of the electrolytic liquid from the capacitor tank.
Overheating
The most terrible phenomenon among the reasons why capacitors swell is the quality of the voltage supplied to the circuit. If it was not originally provided for this capacitor in this particular case, it has to work in an increased mode.
Therefore, the main task of manufacturers of microcircuits, such as motherboards for computers, is to calculate the basic and possible load in the network and install capacitors with sufficient reactive power (analogous to bandwidth) that can withstand voltage surges or turn off on their own.
And they do it successfully, otherwise the capacitors on the motherboard would swell in a matter of hours.
It is impossible to exclude defective parts, which, accordingly, have a much shorter service life and lower limits of deviation from the basic operating mode - they heat up faster and stronger.
For sure, if you feed such a defective capacitor with a qualitycurrent, it will work for the entire declared period and will not show signs of a malfunction, but absolutely nothing happens, and power surges are not unusual.
Therefore, capacitors are constantly working in an aggressive environment. Such work will necessarily lead to heating, which will gradually evaporate the electrolytic liquid from the capacitor tank, which in the near future will lead to swelling.
Evaporation of electrolyte
Any liquid with sufficient heat starts to boil. Water turns into steam and evaporates, and the electrolytic liquid is no exception.
Most often, capacitors swell precisely because of the lack of electrolyte, and the reason for this may be their insufficient reactive power, poor quality of materials, as well as the banal physical wear of the capacitor itself, causing it to heat up more and more.
Rarely, external heat can also be the cause, as well as incorrect polarity.
Replacing swollen capacitors
Any handyman who understands the labeling of capacitors or is able to find information on the device where it is installed will replace it within a few minutes. The process involves desoldering the old Conder and soldering in the new one.
Prevention of capacitor operation
It is possible to prevent swelling of capacitors at home, for example, on a computer motherboard, with the help of certain measures. These include:
- Installing additional cooling in the system unit.
- Installing the "Power Cutoff" at least on the outlet that powers the PC.
- Use quality wires, sockets, power filters.
- Using a quality power supply.
- Purchasing a UPS.
There are also special silicon capacitors. They swell much less often, but their price is an order of magnitude higher, and they are not suitable everywhere, because they have a different alignment of the sinusoid.
